A series of 57 works presented at a Workshop held by the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), in Argentina, highlighted the high potential that sunflower cultivation has for global agriculture. Most of these are health-related contributions to culture from approaches such as pathology, genetic improvement, or biotechnology.
“This workshop is an area to discuss and propose improvements to the work that is being done to, in the future, promote lines of research that are relevant to the development of this crop”, said the president of the Argentine Sunflower Association, Guillermo Pozzi.
In this context, recent advances that have been made in identifying the factors that originate production gaps in this crop, the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization on oil production and quality, the risk of herbicide residue in sunflower and its management, identification of sources of disease tolerance/resistance. Furthermore, they also encompass characteristics associated with productivity, obtaining polyphenols for industrial use from sunflower husks and many other topics.
During the meeting, scientists concluded that the diseases of most concern today are downy mildew, canker, Diaporthe/Phomopsis, Verticillium wilt and rot. Regarding Phomopsis, they agreed that pathogens produce some clues that provide support to be studied and, consequently, combatted in the future.
After this workshop, the ASAGIR 2019 Congress organizing committee continues with preparations for what will be the great sunflower chain meeting that will be held on July 2nd in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
Source: agrolink | Author: Leonardo Gottems
